This photo feels different today. It’s part of a series we did in Minneapolis in 2020 after George Floyd was killed by police. We asked the community, “What do you want to say?” This woman simply replied, “Am I next?” So here we are. Two years after #GeorgeFloyd. One week after #Buffalo. The morning after #Texas. I read a statistic the other day that 75% … Continue reading Am I next?
Jillian Peterson teaches Criminology and Criminal Justice at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She co-founded The Violence Project with James Densley and they have compiled the most comprehensive mass shooter database in order to better understand the phenomenon and prevent future tragedies. “One of my goals is to convince people that violence prevention is a way that we lead our lives every day. It doesn’t have … Continue reading Jillian Peterson
Lee Bennet, Jr. grew up a few blocks away from Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and is a long-time member of the congregation. A retired Army officer, Lee spent several years as Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House Drug Control Policy Office and currently serves as a volunteer historian for his church. Mother Emanuel has weathered a long legacy of … Continue reading Lee Bennett, Jr.
I was at Holden Village last month when I heard the news. A mosque in my hometown of Bloomington, Minnesota had been bombed. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. I saw photos of the bomb’s damage in the national media, and those photos were taken by a friend. In the footage of the crowd that gathered, I saw people I knew, and they were friends. A few … Continue reading Coming down the mountain
Bud Welch lost his only child, Julie Marie, in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. She had worked as a translator in the Alfred P. Murrah building for just five months when Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols blew it up in what remains our nation’s largest domestic terror attack. When Bud saw a news clip of McVeigh’s father, he saw a man who was as … Continue reading Bud Welch
Yanina Calderone was born in Guatemala City. Raised by her mother and two grandmothers, she moved to New York City at age 14 to live with her father. Yanina was raped at age 15 and became pregnant. She decided to keep her “little froggy,” the son that jumped in her stomach. Rather than let a violent act ruin her life, she decided to funnel all … Continue reading Yanina Calderone
Hashim Garrett grew up in Brooklyn, New York. As a young boy, he changed schools and was picked on and bullied. He realized that he could avoid the torment if he befriended his tormentors, and he eventually joined a gang. There was something powerful about having others fear him for a change. He said that when he was good, nobody noticed him, but when he … Continue reading Hashim Garrett
Kim Book’s 17-year-old daughter, Nicole, was murdered in 1995. She recalls that a year later, at the trial, she forgave the young man who had killed Nicole, and the act of forgiveness opened the door to peace in her life. Several years later, Kim founded Victims’ Voices Heard, a restorative justice program in Delaware that brings victims and offenders together in an effort to find … Continue reading Kim Book
